Our View: New laws for you to know

Whether you’re spending New Year’s Eve with a quiet evening at home or going out and partying to ring in 2014, when you wake up Wednesday morning, a number of new laws will be in effect in Illinois.

Perhaps the biggest is that speaking on your cellphone will be illegal unless you are using a hands-free device. Fines for being cited for using a hand-held cellphone while driving a vehicle range from $75 to $150.

You probably are aware of some of the other new laws that received a lot of exposure when they were passed, including the legalization of medical marijuana. Patients suffering from certain diseases can now use marijuana as treatment with a doctor’s permission.

Other new laws that go into effect Wednesday:

• Cigarette butts will be considered litter and disposing of them by flicking them aside could get you a $50 fine.

• Taking parenting away from parents, it now will be illegal for anyone under 18 to use indoor tanning equipment.

• The new pet lemon law will mandate a refund, replacement or reimbursement for veterinary costs from the seller if you buy a pet with an undisclosed illness.

• You still can’t speed through construction zones, but if you do and workers aren’t present, your fine will not be as high.

• Speaking of speed, some interstate speed limits will be increasing to 70 mph.

• 17-year-olds will be allowed to vote in a primary election if they will turn 18 before the general election.

• School buses will be allowed to have video cameras on board to record motorists who pass buses illegally. Those videos can be shared with police.

• It will be illegal to wantonly waste or destroy usable meat from game animals.

• Schools will not be allowed to ask for or demand a student’s social networking password without cause.

• Public school sex-education courses offered to sixth- through 12th-graders must cover abstinence and contraception.